Editor's Notes: Really? A Photo?

I love these narcissists on social media who take photos of themselves with their "books". Hey, if it is self-published the writing community doesn't count it unless you have the history. Hey, shave and wear something better than you go to bed wearing......  

In other words be professional and act professional. The state of literature world wide is in ruins as it is because of the hyper sexual and hyper political climate we live in. The state of literature world wide is in ruins because it has lost all honesty because of fake diplomas and correctness.

Be a professional and promote a return to the freedom of letters.

Editor's Notes: As I Return To Writing....

Amidst the Hell that is my life right now, I have found that Twitter is coming in quite useful as a tool. The brevity of space is forcing me to get the rhythm back, to get the flow open.

The riffs are word plays, some serious, some comedic, but all fun.

I am going through a bad time now. Illness in the family, my marriage and world gone. With my life in ruins many have decided to tee off on me, but Twitter is allowing me to find something that makes me happy.

It's a great tool to practice on.

Editor's Notes: It's Amazing To Me...

How many writers are more concerned about how many words they have written in the course of a day, month or year rather than what they have sold or published. True, creating the product is important, but a story in a drawer or a manuscript on a shelf means little unless it is out there for consumption.

Many writing instructors stress the churning of verbage each day, as if we would forget how to type or hold a pencil, or howmto take the top off a pen if we skip a day.

Quality over quantity. Revise. Cut. Prune. And get it published.

The true measure of a writer is not some arbitrary counting of words, it is how those words are strung and what impact they have on a reader.

Editor's Notes: Life Experience And Writing

With almost everyone claiming the tags 'author' or 'writer' as their surname a lot of clarification needs to enter the equation as to who is truly authentic and who is a mere characterture.

I think this is necessary because the mere glut of words churned out each day and the 'writers' who pride themselves on writing so many words, so many things, most of which don't even see the light of day have choked us.

Our culture is largely based on garbage. Our art and entertainment are the equivalent of fast food with very little lasting value other than bloat.

As most of you are awere I write largely fiction. I look at what I wrote at age eighteen and in my twenties and hold it up against what I write about today and there is no comparison. The richness  of how I tell a story is shaped not only from my experience at writing but my experience at experience. My imagination has been shaped by my life experience and situations I have found myself in and people I have met all along this journey. When I teach writing I urge my students to draw upon their wells of people, places, and occurrences in their lives to drive their vision. You are what you write. Your signature is there in every piece and your personality and history is the life's blood to what you create.

Before you can conquer the world I think you need to see it.

Lasting literature only happens when their depth not self-serving and fanboy fanaticism over shallow and tired tropes. We all need to strive for more both in our lives and in our writing.

Editor's Notes: We've Been Away

But I doubt anyone missed me. Personal circumstance have kept us away but hey welcome to life.

In the last couple of days I have been approached by writers whose relationships with their illustrators have gone south. In the process their intellectual property and pride have suffered.

Personal relationships are flawed because people are flawed. Your chances of having a good relationship with another on any level is against the odds.

Working relationships are marriages and we all know the divorce rate.

I hate to this but here are my rules for collaboration:

1. No one is your friend. This involves intellectual property---keep a distance;
2. Your work is your work and make sure the world knows who created the characters; wrote the script and who drew the pictures;
3. No one is your friend. This involves money---keep a distance;
4. Document everything in writing by text or email;
5. Keep copies of this documentation with your work product;
6. People are flawed, most but not are out to hurt you;
7. Protect yourself.

I was burned very early on when I was in my late teens. This is why I do not collaborate.

Now keep in mind there are a number of publishers I respect and love to work with. But I work with them and we work in our roles; them for their book/magazine and I for my story/poem.

This is a different situation. This is not, 'hey let's get together and put together a book'. Together can be combustible and heart breaking. And this week it has been for a couple of friends--yes friends.

Trust your gut.

Editor's Notes: What if Your Editor Isn't Well Read?

A former student emailed me about a rejection and asked this very question.

So I answered:

Chances are you're screwed but take heart there are others out there who are well read and will appreciate your work. The best one can do is vet the publication as best as possible and avoid those editors who have never published and avoid those editors whose work appears divergent from your own.

In this age of avoiding confrontation for fear of reprisal don't be afraid to call an editor out. He or she wasn't going to publish your work anyway. Remember you are standing up for yourself and your work. Don't take needless angst from someone who is functionally illiterate.

But please do your homework first. Nothing hurts more than to be rejected by someone who turns out to be a paper tiger or a cardboard cut out as opposed to a person of letters.

Editors Notes: Time For A Literary Calling Out: Time For Some Professionalism

I was speaking with a writer friend and am glad he sees this landscape the way I do. This is at least tells me I am not suffering from the same kind of narcissism that these hacks enjoy.

As I have mentioned before much of the hack-a-rama that is the publishing scene at this point in history has to do with quick shot and short shelf life anthologies that essentially use the writer, who is either paid nothing, or less, to make the publisher money. These anthologies appeal to new writers for recognition but use more established writers in a less than socially acceptable way.

Many of these anthologies are published through anthologists who claim the book is 'by' them as opposed to 'edited' by that particular anthologist. This essentially strips the by-line from the contributor author and leaves all credit with the anthologist.

This is dishonest.

Another characteristic of these memorable tomes is the lack of recognition to the receipt of a story as well as the refusal to address queries and even to notify someone of either inclusion or rejection. Facebook and blogs by the publisher's friends and confidantes will publish a Table of Contents without the publisher or anthologist certifying the choices.

Sure life is harsh but these publishers, many of whom cavort about proclaiming how we have to have 'fairness' and 'diversity' in their art won't recognize the existence of contributors even as they count their sales.

So it is time to start calling out them out. Many inside publishing sites rate these publishers via response time and correspondence so what I propose here is nothing different. If anyone knows of any drop me a line as we will look to shed the light on the 'sludging' of this business.

First up is Skywarrior Books. For their anthology using the much tread title, "These Vampires Don't Sparkle". There was nary a response to either receipt or query. A review of their website has nothing about this anthology but some friends of the firm list their pieces within and one even published a table of contents. From a look at the proposed cover....well I had to shield my eyes from the glare.

Were we accepted? No, but we weren't rejected either. I have no clue if my story was even read.

Can we please be a little more professional? Is that too much to ask?  If you don't want me -- tell me. Answer emails.

This is not a gripe but an epidemic and more will follow. Anyone who wishes to contribute to this line of posting, please contact me. Unless we take the bull


 

It's Not Me It's You

Another magazine has gone to the dimension known as hiatus. The Foghorn who only took pitches and offered $1,000.00 per published short story seemed too good to be true.

And it was.

They published some issues but in their statement of surrender that seemed to ramble longer than their submissions requirements the blame was spread between contributors for sending in so-o-o much work and for readers who never read.

Gee, I thought it was money.

The lure of cash in this amount suckered us all but when editors don't reply to queries and basically treat contributors as the real 'hired help' those of us who wish to be fans get a sour taste.

I'm sorry this experiment in fiction failed but editors and publishers need to work with writers, particularly those who fail, as those who fail will always read to get a better handle on what the periodical wishes for.

Lovecraft

Made you look.

As with any marketing there are certain buzz words or branding that work better than others. Because of the lack of readership overall and because the shelf life of any book is less than the blink of an eye meaningful titles, clever titles; titles literarily tied to the content are no longer needed unless of course you are big name author and your name in print overwhelms the book title.

Exactly when literature became breakfast cereal is a date I cannot pinpoint. However, like our
grand experiment in freedom, sometime in the 1990s our standards really began to slip.

Like the great concept albums of rock and roll and inspirational political speeches in general, literature suffers from the sound bite and quick hit. Fads make money for some publishers but leaves writers in the cold usually tied up for months working for less than French fry cook.

Writers need not look to the constant stream of being prolific of having something to post on Facebook daily or even hourly. Writers need to spend time with their craft and listen to their gut and muse. Remember time itself is not a sprint but a marathon and the true test of the writer comes down the road not here at the corner.


 

Editors Note: !!!!!!!!!!

What is it with young writers and exclamation points? ? ? Really, what is it? ? ?

I am befuddled and confused hence my question?????????????

I see it everywhere, fiction and non as if the scribe wants to make a point or end on an emotional high note.

Word to the wise: If you possess the skill to tell the joke you don't need a laugh track. In other words, if you know how to tell a story or make a point you don't need to plant one. !

Editor's Notes: Evolving or Devolving?

There was a time when a 'literary magazine' meant a broad collection of writing with short stories, essays, poetry, novellas, criticism, etc. housed between the covers. A cornucopia, better yet a rainbow representation of something for everyone one a variety of subjects seeking to capture the largest audience in their net.

Over time anthologies ruled the roost huddled around one broad general subject and all else was dropped save for the short story. But the broader subject be it 'science fiction' or 'ghost stories' was still served by a collection of tales serving the subject with diverse takes.

But the broad focus in the past three years has become funneled. Publishers' prompts are shifting their genres with fishing line hooks fixing writers in one place with little room to swim about. Many of these publications have become story collections that pay homage to the cover illustration.

By dictating subject, the composition of characters, and in many cases lines of dialogue and setting, we get away from the story itself and the imagination that works into it. This style of seeking diversity and correctness limits writing to nothing more than an assembly line endeavor rendering creativity and deductive thought to its cheapest level.

Fewer sampler publications survive and even fewer have sought to be born.

The reading public? Well, like many writers, its the human thing to seek safety and find solace and comfort in one's own little corner of the universe with like minded individuals.

Like 'The Whitman Sampler' that ignited taste buds to new combinations, inclusion for all is vastly becoming a homogenized sterility.

I pray over time that I will be proven wrong.    

Editors Notes: The Meaning Of GALL Has Been Defined

With so many horror anthologies becoming incestuous; and several publishers are now noting in their submission guidelines that their friends are getting first shot a new publishing phenomenon is beginning to rear its head.

'Kickstarter' the shamelessly new way to public pan handle is becoming extremely popular. Here people pledge money for your artistic project or home repair, etc. and you get a chance to live out your dream on the dime of someone else.

Sounds a lot like the current Welfare state that our President has changed for us in America.

I am sent inquiries two to three times a week to hand over my dollars to help a new or in some cases established publisher I ignore most. I recently had a case where I was told directly that if I didn't pay in I wouldn't be published.

I walked.

Today I was told there is no room for my submission because all their friends had responded but I was still expected to pay into Kickstarter for the good of the project.

Why? Because people know I have a day job and I'm not just the proverbial writer these days who sits in their mother's basement expounding on Facebook as to their importance to literature. Their are guys in their forties doing this.

I told the publisher to grow up and pay for their own projects themselves. They want stories fine, but I am tired of people putting the bite in me.

Never pay to play.

If anyone wants the name of the publisher and project send me your email.
 

Editor's Notes: Today We Walked Away From An Anthology

I have a story that was accepted for publication in an anthology  but the publisher went belly up. I have since tried to place it but have met with three distinct rejections.

One told me the enjoyed it and then proceeded to criticize every aspect of it.

Another told me I don't know how to write a story and proceeded to explain how stories are written.

And today we find the third where I was told it was publishable but anti-climatic. Now this was after I was accused, in a off handed way, of plagiarizing a scene. I respectfully explained where the scene came from; in other words that it was part of a recurring childhood nightmare.

Right off the bat I can see the publisher and I are going to be really good friends.

I ended this story having the character who represents the embodiment of evil go off into the world to do his deeds. My idea is that evil is ever present. Yet anti-climatic for this publisher who wants a knock down Armageddon battle and he gives me two days to re-write it to fit this scene.

And by the way, going back and looking at the guidelines; the pay itself should have made me think twice about submitting in the first place.

I decided to walk away.

My opinion is that while horror should make you uneasy and make you jump it should not be simplistic.

Editors like doctors need to have a bedside manner.

Is Re-Assignment Covered Under Obamacare?

Got your attention didn't I? This entry has nothing to do with the oft revised and worst piece of legislation ever written. But then again we are discussing writing here.

Anyway, most of my old western weird tales have found publishers. There are a few stragglers and one such loping tale was sent off for consideration a month ago to a publisher I have never sent to in accordance with my own Obama-like philosophy to spread the wealth around.

Well, I finally heard, and yes it was rejected, but rejected in its own weird way. You see the editor thanked me for sending the piece; he told me he enjoyed reading the piece but then stopped writing in the first person and switched to the third person. Here he stated that, and I am I'm paraphrasing, the reader couldn't engage himself in the story until the end and that perhaps it should be re-worked with more and even graphic violence as well as a chase scene all written in third person.

Okay. So as it stands this is the story of two brothers; one an honest man and the other a mass rapist and killer. The story is told through the good brother and the story itself takes place on the day of the hanging of the bad brother.

So I need to graphically describe the crimes and detail the pursuit leading to his arrest; but forget the trial itself; to engage the reader in what would most likely become a long and drawn out mash up of minutia.

I decided to investigate this theory further by looking into the background of the person who wanted to turn an a weird tale into a 'B' western.

We have discussed it many times that the most meaningful assessors are those who have worked within the realm. It is always best to take the word of another writer rather someone with a degree 
and no bibliography.

The story will remain the same and I will go somewhere else hopefully my waiting will not be long and the response from the panel will not be death.

EDITORS NOTES: CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL AND SELF-PUBLISHING

The fact of the matter is cash. The fact to all life is CASH. Many established writers are self-publishing for that fact. In the past two plus years I started this folly money has been scant and many publishers who have owed me money have gone belly up leaving me like most creditors: pant-less let alone with empty hands with turned out pockets.

Still the stigma of self-publishing persists in some circles; in smaller concentric circles as technology and the economy change  perhaps for the worse.

'Vet your publishers' truer words have never been spoken but in these times everyone is hurting. 

Editor's Notes: Be One With Your Art, Really?

I spent a considerable time on the train yesterday. The roads here were horrendous, the snow was piling up and I had to get to work.

On the way home I overheard a wondrous conversation between two ivy league professors discussing how they teach their 'art'. They believe before anyone can act, sing, write, paint or play; one must do this one thing. This one thing is a process in itself and will take the average artist a considerable amount of time to unlock creativity.

The key aspect is known as immersion where for the better part of a day one is to sit in an empty room and contemplate what their art means to them. Yes, this is how you spend your time. To truly love your art, to truly understand your art, to truly be an artist and to able to be a writer, a singer, a painter, etc. so the theory goes, you must assess your connection with your art; you must connect with your art and experience a desire to it before you practice it.

The genius continues; one then needs to spend the next several days, a week maybe two not practicing their art, not reading, not listening to music etc. in order to assess your love for your art.

As I get older I get less diplomatic. As I get wiser in certain areas I realize what is undoing this nation is political correctness.

This is crap. This is merely a way for certain people to discourage others from doing what they love. This is divisive; this is wrong. This is simply a way for an instructor to appear smarter and more creative than he is blessed.

No wonder the state of literature, of music, of art, of movies, and theater is in the toilet it is.

This is crap.

Go out and try your passion. If you are successful great, if you fail, re-tool; just don't wipe and flush. Editors, producers and directors can be wrong. This is why they do what they do and we do what we do.

Editor's Note: We Are All Charlie Brown

Understand that this is a business first. Understand that while you may pour your soul into a work others will disregard it; cheapen it; even revile it.

So rejection is a large part of writing. Such is granted and we have covered this subject extensively.

What we haven't discussed is the relatively new phenomenon of ever changing guidelines. This seems to occur when publishers wish to span genres in a magazine or anthology. Understand, they own the platform. They can set the rules. They can publish the stories they want.

And while I agree it is inherently unfair and dishonest to change gears during a reading period, 'life is tough so wear a cup'.

Thank you Dennis Miller. 

So What Do You Think? Yeah another Editor's Note

I finally found some time in between my real life work to submit a short story. I became rather intrigued when I found a particular publisher had re-opened after a couple of years.

I pulled the disc; the story's file and hit the website. We all understand times are tough. We all know this is a business but I became disturbed in finding a graduated submission program wherein you can submit for free or for a graduated fee.

It's all tied into the response the editor will give you; a creative critique --- more of a critique for more money.

So what do you think? While you are supposed to be paid for an acceptance --- who do you think has a better shot: one who pays nothing or one who pays. 

Standards of Intelligence Are Actually For The Misguided

Collectively we tend to demarcate certain measures where those in the same vocation are to assess themselves. So-called 'standard bearers' are there to quantify our own talents and our own competence in relation to or colleagues.

Yet it seems to me this waste of competition is nonsensical and that every time I run across one of these yardsticks it falls short from the start.

For news it is always the  'New York Times'. For a paper that wins awards, and therein lies the problem, it seems it has always had difficulty in getting the to and out the truth out. Whether its the Spanish-American War, the existence of Concentration Camps in Germany, and a celebrated wunderkind writer who paints tales of being overseas while chomping on pizza in his Manhattan loft; I can't it seriously.

And while we are in Gotham, what about those cartoons in 'The New Yorker'? The vague insipid caricatures that Seinfeld's show so successfully slew with sarcasm. I actually had a friend from the City tell me she knew whether or not to pursue a romantic relationship with someone depending upon that person's reaction to the 'joke' from that issue's cartoons.

Really? Really.

What brings me to this point is a recent editor I spoke with in connection with a new set of classes I am going to teach told me the sure sign of writing excellence and overall talent is possessed in the simple test of brevity. Those who can write a story in less than two hundred characters is a true story teller; in other words embrace the 'twitter-verse' the future of fiction. If you can't, then he told me, you can't write.

Right? Right.

When writing consider the editor who is going to chose. Prizes, awards, degrees and  punch-less statements  may seem clever to some, but if someone believes he is clever he isn't and its best you stay away from those who look to mold you and constrict you.

To be an artist, a true artist, is to expand and experiment but also push for more. One line stories and twitter tales are cute exercises and exercises only; in the same way flawless jumping jacks may look impressive, but will never win a game at any sport. 

"Gloomy Gus' realization the 'self-control' is what WAS missing in his life came ironically too late as his car flipped over the cliff."

In days prior this would be first line to a story now it is the story. We are missing a lot in our writing these days.

Editor's Notes Part Five : IT IS TIME FOR MY CLOSE UP MR. DEMILLE

I am amazed how many writers and publications are now looking for author/writer photos. Generally writers, being the creative types they are generally will shoot their photos in a handful of overly staged poses including: standing outside smiling; while reading a book looking studious; attempting to replicate some long lost album cover from some long forgotten band; wearing a stupid hipster hat; etc.

Why is a photo necessary? Why is important to get to know the writer from how attractive or unattractive he/she is/isn't.

Photos concern me and they should concern writers looking for substance over fashion, that is style.

Also, photographs steal your soul.......